Review - Hurting Too Much by Harry Keeble

Hurting Too Much: Shocking Stories from the Frontline of Child Protection by Harry Keeble

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Time taken to read - 1.5 days

Blurb From Goodreads

Detective Sergeant Harry Keeble's best selling books, Baby X and Little Victim described his early years in Hackney's Child Protection Unit, as he battled to get to grips with cases of unimaginably horrific child abuse. In Broken Angels, a more experienced Harry relates a series of extraordinary cases he encountered with Ella, a young and newly qualified social worker.
Together, Harry and Ella faced the violence of forced marriage, the horror of maternal incest and the cruelty of child slavery. Their investigations took them into a mosque, a drug den and a recording studio. Just as the unrelenting caseload threatened to push the inexperienced Ella over the edge, Harry uncovered one of the most shocking cases of child abuse he'd ever encountered, forcing the duo to tread new ground in the search for justice.
Broken Angels reveals why working in Child Protection has never been so tough. It also shows why, despite the fact that so many courageous people are ready and willing to meet impossible challenges, we are still unable to reach all of the broken angels that so desperately need our help.

My Review

This is my first encounter with this author although there have been previous books on a similar subject. Detective Sergeant Harry Keeble works in the Child Protection Unit investigating cases of neglect and abuse. Ella is a new social worker and finding her feet in the job and some help from Harry.

This is a great book for educating people and giving a small insight into what exactly goes on in these kind of cases. It is a milder version of the true stories that are selling a lot just now but this one doesn't give lots of horrific details (although there is enough so you are in no doubt as to what has happened). It jumps around to different cases and follows Ella's progress whilst settling into the job and how Harry feels she is doing. The cases we do hear about in the book are brief so you are pulled down with too much details but enough to keep you reading.

I liked the way the book is written and how it doesn't just focus on the horrific details but still gets across how dire some of these situations are and how the police and social worker are dealing with (and as budget allows). It was certainly an eye opener and I also found myself being educated on some cultures and religions and the politics that these workers get caught up in trying to keep the children safe. It also has some contact links at the back and the authors email address for anyone who has experienced the issues mentioned in this book and would like to reach out. 3/5 for me and I would read this author again.

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